Economy minister Rafizi Ramli said trying to convince a family of four to buy and install solar panels on their rooftop for RM20,000 is “very difficult to do” currently.
“Hence, we are turning this upside down. Instead of asking every household to pay for an expensive solar panel, we are offering an income opportunity.
“In every home, we intend to give households the option to lease out their rooftops in return for a monthly income that could lower their electricity bills and put more cash in their pockets,” he said at the launch of the NETR Phase 1 today.
The government’s vision is to see solar panels installed nationwide including atop homes, mosques, halls and factories, he said.
He added the government is taking the lead by allocating RM80 million for solar panels to be installed on the rooftops of government buildings.
Pilot project
As part of the rooftop solar initiative, Rafizi said Sime Darby Property Bhd had committed to the installation of 4.5MW solar capacity across 450 homes in City of Elmira and Bandar Bukit Raja, Selangor, with up to 10kW capacity per house.
Rafizi said the focus for this initiative is on large scale housing developments, and working with Sime Darby Property it is something that can be rolled out commercially without government funding.
“There is already a buy in from medium- and high-end property buyers wanting solar,” said Rafizi to reporters later.
However, details of this project by Sime Darby Property are sketchy as it is not revealed if the hefty cost of the solar panel installations will be borne by the house buyers, developer or some other party.
Whether this initiative will work for low-cost or affordable homes is up for debate.
Changing the economics of RE
The NETR is a document of interim measures for Malaysia to meet its net-zero carbon emissions target.
The roadmap aims to transform the economy by changing the economics of renewable energy, and making it profitable for businesses and households to participate in it.
In addition, it seeks to transform livelihoods by offering opportunities to households to generate income through the usage and installation of rooftop solar, biomass, biofuels, and green mobility initiatives.
Phase 1 of the NETR also entails the setting up of five centralised large-scale solar parks with 100MW capacity each, co-developed by TNB.
The ultility group will also develop 2.5GW of hybrid hydro-floating solar PV projects at its hydro dams. Phase 2 of the NETR will be rolled out in August.